Observant
by Galapagos Penguin
Summary: Touko makes a bad decision, and Yumi surprises her with what she knows.


**A/N:** My first story. Hope it isn't too boring.

I don't own Marimite, obviously. Enjoy.

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><p>Touko shivered from the chilly autumn wind as she walked towards the Rose Mansion. It was much too cold. She regretted her decision to not wear her scarf, and pulled her coat closer to herself. She hoped that Noriko hadn't made tea for the Roses yet, that way she would be able to pour some for herself before it was all gone. Touko hated to waste the extra tea that she couldn't finish. To take her mind off the cold, she busied herself by trying to find the crackliest looking leaves, and stepping on them. Though childish, it was an effective distraction.<p>

Somehow, the walk to the mansion seemed much longer than usual; Touko wondered if it was because of the cold. She hoped she hadn't passed it while busying herself with that game. To her relief, she soon reached the front door. Yumi was standing in front of it, as if she had been waiting for someone. When Yumi saw Touko, she smiled brightly and waved.

"Gokigenyou, Onee-sama," Touko greeted, slightly puzzled at Yumi's sentry-like position at the doorway. Shouldn't she in the meeting? "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Actually, I was waiting for you, Touko-chan! I thought I'd wait outside for you so we would have a reason to make another pot of tea," she replied, still smiling as they entered the mansion and climbed the stairs up to the meeting room.

Touko blushed slightly, touched by her souer's actions. However, she wouldn't condone her actions. "Onee-sama, you could make yourself sick, waiting in this cold. I could always make a new pot of tea, reason or not."

"But I know you don't like having to waste the extra tea. You always look guilty when you make an extra pot and add too much water."

Touko briefly wondered how exactly Yumi knew that, since she rarely made herself extra pots of tea, but decided that it wasn't really important, and simply said a quiet thank you. As they entered the meeting room, Touko wasn't surprised that they were the last ones to arrive.

"Gokigenyou. Please excuse out tardiness. My club activities held me longer than anticipated, and Onee-sama was waiting for me."

Nobody had really minded the delay, but a small chiding was given, for the sake of appearance. The meeting was nothing special, and ended without incident. After the meeting, Yumi quickly wandered over to Touko.

"Are you going to walk home today, Touko-chan?"

Touko was a little put off. She was going to walk home today, but how did Yumi know? After all, Touko nearly always rode the bus to and from school. Today though, she had forgotten her bus pass and was unable to ride home.

"How did you know, Onee-sama?"

"I saw you walk to school this morning, so I figured you'd walk back too." Oh. Touko wondered how she hadn't thought of that obvious explanation. When did Yumi get so observant? Yumi continued, "I noticed you didn't have your scarf, the pretty beige one, you always wear. I thought you might get cold, so I came to ask if you wanted mine. "

Touko hesitated. A scarf would be nice, but wouldn't Yumi also need a scarf? She usually walked home, and would certainly get cold on the way over. Yumi giggled at her hesitation.

"Don't worry about me, Touko-chan. My parents are picking me up today."

"Well in that case, please let me borrow your scarf, Onee-sama. I will return it tomorrow."

Yumi smiled, "You can just have it. I have another at home." Touko opened her mouth to protest, but before a sound could escape, Yumi wrapped the scarf around her, covering her mouth. Satisfied, Yumi said, "Now, let's walk to the gate together, shall we?"

The weather had gotten windier. Consequently, it felt even colder. Yumi shivered from the wind, but hoped it went unnoticed by Touko; the last thing she wanted was Touko giving the scarf back to her because she was worried that her Onee-sama was cold. Somehow, her shiver escaped notice.

Touko snuggled her face deeper into the scarf, trying to keep warm. She knew Yumi was cold, but she wanted to wear the scarf, if not only because she was happy to wear something of Yumi's. Touko decided she was going to return the scarf tomorrow, despite what Yumi had said.

They walked together in content silence, Touko every so often sneaking a peek at her souer. Yumi was cute, she decided. Her large, brown eyes and pigtails gave her the appearance of one much younger than a lady of 17, but she contained much maturity, though her emotions were always on display for all to see. Touko thought they reached the front gate all too soon. She enjoyed the content silence between them.

"Well, this is where we part. Be careful on your way home, Touko-chan!"

"You too, Onee-sama."

Touko continued walking the streets, on her way home. She took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of the scarf. It smelled… comforting, as if Yumi had injected her very essence into the scarf. To Touko, Yumi seemed surprisingly observant. She always seemed to know what upset her, and what to do about it. Touko smiled to herself. Hidden under the scarf, she wasn't afraid of looking strange. She decided she would keep the scarf.


End file.
